Jonathan Ansell

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Jonathan Ansell
English tenor Jonathan Ansell at Broadlands in Hampshire, England, in 2007.
English tenor Jonathan Ansell at Broadlands in Hampshire, England, in 2007.
Background information
Birth name Jonathan Mark Ansell
Born 10 March 1982 (1982-03-10) (age 26)
Origin Bognor Regis, Sussex, England, UK
Genre(s) Classical
Easy listening
Operatic pop
Vocal
Occupation(s) Singer Tenor
Years active 2004–present
Label(s) UCJ
Website www.jonathanansell.com

Jonathan Mark Ansell (born 10 March 1982) is an English singer, formerly the high tenor of the vocal group G4.

Jonathan Ansell was born in Bognor Regis in 1982. At the age of eight, he joined The West Sussex Boys' Choir, conducted by Arthur Robson, and stayed until his voice broke when he lost the ability to sing treble at the age of 15. He toured with the choir to Florida, Germany, and France, and sang in the Royal Festival Hall. After puberty Ansell found out he had developed a high tenor voice instead.

He attended the Anglican Bishop Luffa School in Chichester. "Achieved his Grade 8 as a treble at 13, he received his Grade 8 as a tenor at 17. He published a solo album in 2001 with his savings.

After a show-stopping performance of Love Changes Everything at a choral society concert in Littlehampton, his local MP, who was in the audience, arranged for him to have a preliminary audition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He won a place two years later, and felt he had come home.[1]

Contents

[edit] G4

Whilst he was at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama he formed the pop-opera boyband G4 with Mike Christie, Tom Lowe, and Ben Thapa, three other Guildhall students. Later, due to artistic differences, Tom Lowe resigned as bass, and Matthew Stiff took his place. Their name, G4, comes from the fact that they were all students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and stands for Guildhall 4.

G4 were discovered after finishing second on ITV talent show The X Factor in 2004. G4's self-titled debut album reached Number One for Mother's Day weekend 2005 and sold over 245,000 copies in the first week. In total they released 3 albums, sold in excess of 1.5 million albums in the UK, completed 5 sell-out UK tours, sold in excess of 40,000 Live at the Royal Albert Hall DVDs (one of the concerts on their first tour) and also released a best selling autobiography.

Jonathan Ansell turned down the role of Prince Tamino in Kenneth Branagh's film of Mozart's The Magic Flute to stay with the band and continue recording.

On 5 April 2007, G4 announced on GMTV that they were calling it a day at the end of July 2007.

[edit] Solo Career

Jonathan signed with new management Jonathan Shalit in 2007 and secured a £1 million, 5 album deal with Universal Classics and Jazz (UCJ) which is part of the Universal Music Group. Indeed, it's a testament to Jonathan's brilliance as a singer that he was offered an album deal by the three major labels, EMI, Sony and Universal."[2] His first solo album with UCJ, Tenor at the Movies, was released on 18 February 2008.

For 5 Sunday afternoons from 17th February 2008 Jonathan Ansell presented "The Great Movie Composers" on ClassicFM coinciding with the release of his solo album.

On 24th February 2008 Jonathan's album "Tenor at the Movies" went straight to number 1 in the Classical Chart and stayed there for 3 weeks and reached Number 9 in mainstream charts making him the youngest tenor ever to top the Classical Charts.

On 10th April 2008 Jonathan participated in a celebrity edition of Channel 4 show Come Dine With Me along with fellow celebrities MC Harvey, Tamara Beckwith and Lynsey de Paul. Jonathan came in joint first place with MC Harvey, both of whom scored 21 points.

On 8th May Jonathan's participation in BBC programme Ready Steady Cook against Hayley Westenra was broadcast.

In the evening of 8th May 2008 Jonathan performed Un Giorno Per Noi with Hayley Westenra at the Classical Brits, Royal Albert Hall.

[edit] Personal life

After meeting her in a London club, Jonathan is dating former Quizmania host Debbie King.[3]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • Tenor at the Movies (UCJ) #9 UK, #1 UK Classical

Released 18 February 2008


Jonathan is due to release a second album in October this year

[edit] Tours

[edit] A Night At The Opera

30-Oct Wales Millenium Centre 08700 402 000

31-Oct Brighton The Centre 0844 847 1515

02-Nov Sheffield City Hall 0114 278 9789

03-Oct Gateshead Sage 0191 443 4661

05-Nov Aberdeen Music Hall 01224 641122

06-Nov Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 0141 353 8000

07-Nov Nottingham Royal Concert Hall 0115 989 5555

09-Nov Bournemouth BIC 0870 111 3000

10-Nov Southend Cliffs Pavilion 01702 351 135

11-Nov Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 0151 709 3789

12-Nov Basingstoke The Anvil 01256 844 244

13-Nov Manchester Bridgewater Hall 0161 907 9000

16-Nov Bradford St George's Hall 01274 432 000

18-Nov Birmingham Symphony Hall 0121 780 3333

20-Nov Bristol Colston Hall 0117 922 3523

21-Nov Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions 0845 146 1460

22-Nov Portsmouth The Guildhall 023 9282 4355

23-Nov London Palladium 0844 412 4657

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jonathan Ansell Official Site. Official Website (15 January 2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  2. ^ 'I was such a pretty boy even my mother thought I was gay' says G4's Jonathan Ansell. Daily Mail (4 January 2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  3. ^ Mutiny on the high Cs as G4 reveal why they split. Daily Mail (6 April 2007). Retrieved on 2008-01-07.

Multimedia and interviews

Friday night is music night Image:Friday night is music night My Own True Love.ogg

My own true love
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[edit] External links